Lovino, Pomodoro, and the Enchanted Lantern
by aviyah.halpern
Summary: Lovino Vargas is an ordinary commoner, living with his family in the kingdom of Acamire. His life is rather dull, but that changes one day, when he befriends a stray cat. Suddenly, things seem to get more interesting, and maybe-just maybe-Lovino has stumbled onto the key to finding the long-missing Prince Alfred.


_Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, was the kingdom of Acamire. It was a large, prosperous, and happy kingdom, ruled by the kind and noble Queen Amelia._

 _One day, the magnificent Queen was blessed with an heir—two heirs, actually. On a clear summer's day, she gave birth to a pair of lovely twin boys. The first was Alfred—like the sun, he was bright, full of energy, and spread happiness wherever he went. The second one was… the second one was…_

… _Right! The second one was Matthew. Like the moon, he, uh… well, like the moon, he seemed to disappear regularly._

 _The Queen and her sons all lived happily together, and at the same time, Acamire continued to thrive and shine. The people of the kingdom were happy, too: they loved their fair Queen, harvests were plentiful every year, and everyone took care of each other._

 _This serenity was not meant to last, however. On Prince Alfred's fifth birthday, the evil witch Natalia attacked the grand castle of Acamire. She cast the wonderful Queen into an eternal slumber, and ever since that day, the young Prince Alfred went missing. From that time onward, though Acamire continued to be a kingdom of plenty, it was cast under a gloomy shadow, ruled as it was by the sullen Queen Natalia._

 _It is fifteen years later, at a humble commoner's house, when our story takes place..._

* * *

Lovino Vargas was in a sour mood that morning as he prepared some dough. Sure, he was usually in a sour mood all the time—but he always had a good reason, dammit!

"—and, and, then we can have you visit the tailor too, and he can—"

This time, the reason was his younger brother, Feliciano. More specifically, it was Feliciano talking his ear off that morning about his goddamn stupid wedding, which was coming up in several months.

"So, Lovino! What colors should we wear?"

"How the fuck should I know, numbnuts?"

"Lovino!" The brothers' ridiculously youthful and handsome grandfather, Romulus, looked over to his eldest. "It was a simple question, you don't need to be so rude to your brother."

"Tch! He's being annoying—don't tell me you're not also annoyed!" And Lovino's annoyance had absolutely nothing to do with being jealous, because dammit, he wasn't!

"Vehh… Lovino…" Feliciano pouted and sniffled. God, Lovino swore he did it on purpose sometimes!

"Come on, Lovino, it's your brother's big day! Of course he'd be excited for it." Romulus grinned and patted Feliciano's head.

"That's right, Lovinello! It'll be an amazing day with lots of wine and pasta!" Feliciano added.

Lovino just rolled his eyes. "And beer and wurst."

"Aww…"

The older brother sighed and tried to shake off some of his annoyance. "Look, I'm not trying to shit all over your wedding, all right? It's just—shouldn't you be asking Ludwig all these questions?"

"I try to, but, but—he really sucks at answering them! He always tells me to make all the decisions in the end…"

"Fucking potato bastard. Be more pushy! Tell him I'll kick his ass if he doesn't participate more! For fuck's sake, I'm not the one getting married here!"

"Veh~ Well, all right! You're right, Lovino!" He threw his arms around his brother for a quick hug. "In fact, I'll go see him now!" They exchanged kisses on the cheeks, and then Feliciano did the same with his grandfather, before he darted out of the room.

"Oh, how sweet my little Feliciano is! To be so young and in love~" Romulus gushed. "I think I'll take a trip into town myself! You can finish up here, right, Lovino?"

"Of course I can."

"Good, good! I can always count you." Romulus exchanged his own farewell kisses with Lovino then, before heading out himself.

Lovino sighed, finally having some peace and quiet for himself. Dammit, it was always like this… Feliciano was so friendly, and he fell in love so early… and Grandpa was always going out somewhere, skirt-chaser that he was… Lovino was always left behind like this, to pick up the pieces and clean the messes.

For once, he'd like to stop being the one that everyone else relied on, dammit.

* * *

Soon enough, dinner time came around, and while Romulus had enough sense to come home on time, Feliciano was still absent. And of course, as always—Lovino was the one who had to go out and fetch the moron.

And so, he set out towards the local tinker's shop, which was also the house of the Beilschmidt brothers. The elder of the two—Gilbert—was manning the storefront, and he easily let Lovino into the back of the shop.

And in the back of the shop, there was… no one around. _Motherfucker_.

Also… dammit, it kind of smelled here. _Gross_. Looked like Ludwig prepared more of his stupid wursts again; it took no time for Lovino to spot a dish of the damn things on a table nearby.

What he didn't expect to see there—but it definitely was—was a… cat?

No, wait, it was definitely a cat. Pretty fucking huge for a cat, but a cat all the same. It had light cream-colored fur with a dark brown tail and neck, and it was currently devouring the wurst. Hm. He should probably do something about that.

"Oi. Bastard," Lovino said in a stern voice, crouching by the table to reach the cat's eye level. "You shouldn't be eating that."

Bastard Cat paused, looked up to Lovino, licked its lips… and then resumed eating with vigor. That… _bastard_.

Before Lovino could think to do anything else, the other door to the room slammed open, and Feliciano and Ludwig came in, faces flushed and clothes rather messy.

"Ciao, Lovino!" Feliciano called out. "What's—oh, look at the little kitty! Kitty kitty!"

"That cat is eating our wurst," Ludwig huffed.

"Oh no! Kitty!" Feliciano dropped to his knees by the table and gave the cat a downright devastated look. "Why would you do that!? Lovino!" He turned the look on his brother then, "did you let the kitty in on purpose? I know you don't like wurst or Ludwig, but come on, Lovino!" Tears already started streaming down the moron's face.

Lovino's annoyance shot through the roof then, and even though the cat probably came in through the _obvious fucking open window that was right there_ , he was going to be petty about it now, dammit! "Of course I let that cat in! Bastard!" He batted Feliciano's hands away—which were currently poking the cat's cheeks in some stupid effort to get it to stop—and then proceeded to shove the wurst further into the cat's face. "Eat it up, cat! It's all yours! Heh heh."

But that proved to be a little much, and then the cat straightened up, letting all the excess meat fall out of its mouth shamelessly. Huh. Guess it couldn't eat that fast after all.

"Lovino," came Ludwig's level voice, and he felt a hand clap onto his shoulder. "For what purpose, exactly, did you come to visit here?" Oh, the voice was level, but Lovino could hear the strangled anger underneath it.

"B-bastard! I, I came here for my idiot brother! Cheh!" He stepped out of Ludwig's grasp and roughly grabbed his brother's hand. "Come on, moron! We should be back home already, dammit."

"Aw! That's too bad," Feliciano answered rather cheerfully, already over the incident. "Luduccio! Il mio tesoro! I'll see you tomorrow!" He approached his fiancé, pecked him on the lips, and then waved enthusiastically as he got pulled away by his brother.

"Yes, see you tomorrow," Ludwig replied, flustered. But he quickly dropped that in favor of his usual stern voice when he called out, "Lovino!" just as the brothers neared the exit.

"What, bastard."

"Take your… _cat_ with you." He held out the beastly-looking cat, grabbing onto it by the back of its neck.

" _Cheh_." Lovino released his brother and took the cat, holding it to his chest in both arms. God, it was fucking heavy.

And with that, they were finally free to return home.

"Lovino," Feliciano said as they walked down the busy road, "did you really bring that cat in on purpose?"

"Moron. Of course I didn't. Some dumbass left the window open, all right?"

"Yay! I'm glad," he said, smiling that dumb (actually very sweet) smile of his. "So, what're you going to name the kitty?"

"Name? Bastard, who said I was going to keep the damn thing?" Lovino shot a quick glare at the cat then, who, despite his words, he was still cradling to his chest.

"So… You're not going to keep it?"

"Right."

"... So, you're not going to let it go, either?"

"Tch! Asshole!" Lovino jolted and started to blush, but the cat in his arms didn't seem disturbed in the least. "Of course I am!"

And so, they paused for a moment while Lovino bent over and released the cat.

Who then proceeded to follow the brothers, trotting along in that ridiculous, bouncing manner that only cats could do.

"Awwww! Lovino~! He likes you!" Feliciano gushed, shooting the cat a few smiles as they continued.

"No he doesn't! It's just—wait, 'he'?"

"I got a look when you put him down."

"... Oh. Anyway! He's just following because you keep looking at him! If we ignore him, he'll stop."

"Aw! But I don't want to ignore the kitty!"

"Too fucking bad! Now, come on already!"

They walked the rest of the way home ignoring the kitty (the few glances Lovino snuck didn't count, dammit!), and yet, the fat little furball still followed them all the way to their front door.

"Awwww, kitty! Come on in!" Feliciano said, holding the door open for the cat.

As he walked in, however, Lovino snatched him up and glared at his brother. "Absolutely not!"

"But, he followed us all the way here!"

"Good for him. And now he can go look for someone else to follow!"

"Oh, fine. Bye bye, kitty!" Feliciano gave him a quick rub between the ears. "Sorry we're going to kick you out!"

"Asshole, don't say it like that! But, it's true." Lovino looked down at the cat and, surprisingly enough, the cat looked back. Right in the eye. "Come on, bastard cat, don't look at me like that. I'm not going to just take in some random cat! And then I'll have to fucking feed you and take care of you and shit."

The cat continued to look adorable.

"Come on, don't you get it? It's a big responsibility! I can't just take you in on the drop of a hat!"

The cat was still adorable, though. And then, he opened his mouth… and _mewed_.

"Fuck—fucking fine! I'll give you a treat or something, all right? But then you're leaving!"

"Yay!" Feliciano cheered, and he gently squeezed one of the cat's front paws. "The kitty gets to stay!"

"For only a few minutes, dammit."

"Yeah, yeah, sure!" Feliciano skipped over to the door and shut it behind his brother.

Just as Lovino was thinking of a proper treat to give, however, Romulus strode into the room. "There you are! And I see you brought a little friend!" He then proceeded to pull both of his grandsons into a quick, yet tight, double one-armed hug. "Now, then! Time for dinner!"

And holy shit, at the mention of food, Lovino felt his stomach growl. Damn, he didn't realize he was this hungry! Without another thought to it, he set down the cat, and then headed into the dining room with the rest of his family.

* * *

It was night time before Lovino finally returned to his bedroom, and flopped onto his bed. God _damn_ dinner was always so fucking delicious. He was at least grateful that everyone in the family knew how to cook.

On the other hand, he could certainly go for less wedding-talk during dinner. Seriously, just how many times did he have to tell his brother to stop asking him questions about it? Fuck, he really wished he was allowed to kick Ludwig's ass!

And of course, talks of Feliciano getting married, would inevitably lead to talks of why Lovino—the older one!—hasn't found anyone to settle down with yet.

Lovino tilted his head back, peering at the stars through his window. It just wasn't that easy, though; he didn't even know where to start. The few people with whom he was acquainted wouldn't work, for one reason or another, and trying to meet new people was a bust, too—unlike his friendly and kind brother, Lovino just wasn't really made of relationship material. He knew his personality was unpleasant, and he was always the one getting stuck behind, anyway.

And dammit all, he wasn't going to try being more like Feliciano. Someone in this house needed to be responsible! And probably, he would end up annoying himself as much as his brother did already.

So, there it was. That's how Lovino's life would be, and he'd just get used to it. And maybe someday, he'd finally be able to get that message through to his family, and then they'd stop nagging him about it.

...Lovino sighed. His chest ached, in a dull and heavy sort of way.

And then, he felt something rough, rubbing against the hand he left hanging off the edge of his bed. When he looked down, he saw… that cat from earlier, licking his hand. That's right... he just left the cat here, at home, when he went off for dinner, didn't he?

The fluff ball looked back up to him and mew-chirped, whiskers twitching in the process. _Fuck_ , that was too cute—against his common sense, and despite his sorrow, Lovino could already feel some giddy happiness well up in his heart. "What do you want, bastard? You want me to give you a treat?"

In response, the cat hopped up onto the bed, right next to Lovino.

"The… The fuck! Who said you could be on my bed?" Oh shit, he was _purring._ "I… I mean, don't you have, uh… somewhere else to be?" And now the cat was cuddling against his hands, and dammit, the bastard was fucking soft, and warm, and purring…

The cat mewed then, and he poked his nose against Lovino's.

"... What?"

Another mew. And then he curled himself up next to Lovino's pillow, got himself real cozy, and started to doze off.

He looked so fucking happy, and content, there. With Lovino. The brunette sighed; there was no way he could kick out the cat now, not when the damn thing looked so fucking peaceful, and comfortable. So instead, he laid back down, pulled up the covers over himself, and looked at the cat.

Tentatively, he reached out, and pressed the palm of his hand into the cat's massive fur. Fuck, it was soft… and at the touch, the cat relaxed even more, and his purring intensified. Too fucking adorable…

"Pomodoro," Lovino finally said. "I'll call you Pomodoro, all right?" In response, the cat gave a little mew and licked Lovino's finger, before curling back up.

Guess that settled it, then.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

* * *

Howdy everyone, and merry Christmas! This story goes out to Hannah, my partner for the Romerica Secret Santa 2015! It's too long to deliver in one chapter, on the right day, so I'll have to put out the rest later. It looks like it'll be 5 or so chapters, by the way. Anyway, I really hope ya like it!

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention this—a lot of inspiration for this story came to me from _The Aureate Poultry_ , by AozoraNoShita. It is one of my ultimate, top favorite Romerica stories, and if any of you haven't read it yet, then… Merry Double Christmas! You get to experience an amazing story for the first time!

Now, time for some general notes! I'm sure most of this is common knowledge for any Hetalia fan, but just in case...

 **Amelia** is the popular fan-given name for female!America.

 **Alfred** is America.

 **Matthew** is Canada.

 **Natalia** is Belarus.

 **Lovino** is South Italy/Romano.

 **Feliciano** is North Italy/Veneziano.

 **Romulus** is the Roman Empire/Ancient Rome/Grandpa Rome.

 **Ludwig** is Germany,

 **Gilbert** is Prussia, and

 **Beilschmidt** is their family name.

 **Pomodoro** means 'tomato' in Italian, and he is America-cat from nekotalia. There is no strict canon on which breeds the nekotalia cats are, but personally, I will say that he is a Maine Coon until the day that I die. Also, you can probably tell from my writing, but I really love cats… and Maine Coons are especially my favorite…

 **Lovinello/Luduccio/Il mio tesoro/all this random Italian that Feliciano uses and will continue to use:** Basically, it's Feliciano talking really cutesy, using all the little pet names, turning normal names into cuter versions (kind of like how Americans change Katherine to Katie when they make it sound cuter), and so on. Anyone is free to look up the specifics, but basically, this is what he's saying.

And of course, anyone is free to correct me, because Italian is not my native language at all.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday, everyone! See ya next time!


End file.
